


Make My Heart Melt (Not Burn)

by Auddieliz09



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, ThiamSecretValentine, Valentine's Day Fluff, cooking fails
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22723729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auddieliz09/pseuds/Auddieliz09
Summary: For the prompt:Making homemade chocolates. What could go wrong?
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	Make My Heart Melt (Not Burn)

Theo Raeken is many things. A former Chimera of Death. (He is not a Chimera of Cuddles. Who told you that??) A sagittarius. (Apparently, Jenna thinks that's important?) A biology major at BHCC. (Just until he finds out what school Liam is going to in the fall.) A part-time "cart attendant" at Home Depot. (His candids have an entire fansite dedicated to them. Eat your heart out, Alex from Target.) 

What he is not, however, is a baker. Why he thought he could watch a few tutorials on YouTube and suddenly become a master chocolatier is beyond him. That's Liam-levels of impulsiveness.

And yet… here he is. Every pot and large mixing bowl in Jenna's kitchen spread out around the counters, most of them with some sticky substance or another congealing, or just burnt, to the bottoms.

Not to mention the silicone molds with gooey, vaguely chocolaty-looking sludge in them.

He'd tried everything! Homemade chocolate from scratch didn't look hard. Powdered sugar, cocoa powder, powdered milk. Sift into a bowl. Boil water in a pot, put different bowl over pot. Melt coconut oil in bowl. Spoon dry ingredients into oil. Stir until fully combined. Easy peasy, right?

Well, it is if you use a bowl that isn't going to melt when you put it over a pot of boiling water. (Sorry, Jenna.)

Melting wafers that you literally only have to melt?? So, don't put them in a microwave. Or over high heat on the stove. 

Homemade caramel? *Insert hysterical laughter track here*

This is why he is not a chemistry major.

He thought he could do something nice and thoughtful for his boyfriend for Valentine's Day. Something different than just chucking a box of chocolates and an overpriced stuffed animal at him.

Instead, he's got a messy kitchen and nothing to show for it. Hell, he doesn't even have an overpriced stuffed animal.

Theo's leaning back against the sink with his face buried in his hands, trying to summon the motivation to begin cleaning his mess when he hears the familiar rumble of a shitty Ford Bronco pulling into the driveway.

He whips his head up to look at the clock. Shit! How had it gotten so late? He drags the burned caramel pot into the sink to fill with hot, soapy water, hoping the sticky leftovers will dissolve.

His shoulders tense when he hears Liam open the front door.

"Hey, Theo? I thought you were working tonight. What are you doing home so- What is that smell?"

Theo looks over to watch as Liam walks into the kitchen. He pauses just past the doorway, taking in the mess, eyebrows rising. He blinks a couple of times. "Uh. What happened here?"

"I, um," Theo coughs and wills the heat away from his cheeks. "I tried to make chocolates."

Liam walks cautiously into the chaos and looks around at Theo's failed attempts, lips pressed together. "How many times?" He asks, voice an octave higher than before.

"Don't you dare laugh."

An undignified snort leaves Liam's nose as he snickers at Theo's mutinous expression. Theo crosses his arms and looks away.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Liam crosses to Theo, rubbing his hands over his shoulders and arms. "Why were you trying to make chocolates?"

"I just- I wanted to do something special for you for Valentine's Day," Theo answers, still looking away. "I asked for the day off so I could make them before you came home from school and I could take them to Melissa's with a special batch for her as a bribe to not hold them for me and not eat any of them. Then I'd surprise you with thoughtful, made with love, homemade chocolates tomorrow. And now I have nothing."

"Babe, you could've given me a Milky Way and a card from the dollar store and I would've been delighted." Liam cups his face.

"I know! That was the point!" Theo finally looks at him. "You don't expect a grand gesture, which is why I wanted to make one."

"That's so fucking sweet!" Liam reaches up and wraps his arms around Theo's neck. After a beat, Theo returns the hug. "I think, in this case, it's definitely the thought that counts. Consider the grand gesture made, even if it wasn't properly executed."

Theo huffs out a laugh, burying his face in Liam's neck. "Fuck off."

Liam snickers some more before letting go. "Alright, let's see what you've got." He turns to inspect the various disasters.

"How about let's not," Theo says a little desperately, trying to grab him.

Liam dodges him. "It's my chocolate, I'll do what I want."

Theo just sighs heavily and buries his hands in his hair.

"Let's see…" Liam looks toward the stove first. "Theo? Did you… melt a bowl?"

"Um."

"You could've used a glass bowl?"

"Obviously, I didn't think of that at the time."

Liam's shoulders shake, but he keeps his laughter to himself this time. He chips off a small bit of chocolate that hadn't spilled through the holes melted in the side of the bowl and had hardened while Theo made his other attempts. "Pretty good. Could probably salvage this part, cut it away from the bowl and reuse it."

Theo blinks at him. What?

Liam leans over the stove and pokes at the thick, vaguely chocolate looking substance in a smaller pot. "Uh, I'm gonna say this one is a lost cause, sorry. What was it exactly?"

Theo scratches the back of his neck. "Chocolate wafers? It seemed like cheating and I wanted to make my own but," he gestures toward the melted bowl, "so I figured it couldn't be any worse. I was wrong. Obviously."

"I take it half of them started burning before the other half were even melted?" Liam asks. When Theo nods, he nods back. "'Kay, so, maybe next time, don't use such high heat."

"You assume there's going to be a next time? And how do you know all of this?"

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to." Liam shrugs. "And you've met my mom, right? I'm her only child. Who else was she going to teach cooking stuff to?"

Before The can answer, Liam peers into the sink. "So that's what that smell is from. What were you trying to do here?"

Theo shifts his feet and coughs. "Caramel."

"Ah," Liam slants him a lopsided grin. "You took your eyes off the pot, didn't you?"

"It was taking so long to boil! So I thought I'd just check a few insta stories. Next thing I know, something smells like it's burning and I look up and the stuff is about boiling over and brown." Theo huffs, crossing his arms.

Liam laughs and kisses the scowl off his face. "Common rookie mistake. At least we can save the pot, which is more than I can say for my first time."

Theo stares into those cheerful blue eyes, amazed at how this boy can make him feel a thousand times better with just a few words and a grin. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Liam kisses him again and then spins toward the island. "What do we have over here?"

"Second attempt at melting wafers," Theo points at a medium sized bowl, then the chocolate molds, "and second attempt at homemade chocolate."

Liam looks in the bowl. "This doesn't look bad. Kinda lumpy, definitely unevenly heated. Microwave?"

"Yep." 

"Over boiling water in a heat-safe bowl really is the best way to melt chocolate."

"I'll keep that in mind," Theo says dryly. 

Liam snorts softly. "Anyway, this can be salvaged for whatever." He moves to the molds. "What happened here exactly?"

"I don't know! It never hardened. It's just... gooey." Theo glares at the sticky mess in the molds.

“Hmm.” Liam pokes a finger in the chocolate then pops it in his mouth. “It’s like fudge sauce! We can heat this up a little and then pour it in a jar to put on ice cream later. You actually didn’t do too bad, baby.” He beams at Theo.

“Okay, maybe. But it wasn’t supposed to be fudge sauce.” Theo pouts.

“Hey, now,” Liam reaches out and pulls him into another hug. “You set out to make me chocolate and that’s what you did. I, for one, am extremely happy and pleasantly surprised. So, what do you say about us saving what can be saved, and I help you make some delicious chocolates?”

Theo is still a little bummed that his plan didn’t work out as he’d hoped, but he’s happy that Liam is happy. “Yeah, okay.” He smiles, burying his face in Liam’s neck.

The rest of the afternoon they spend correcting Theo’s mistakes and with Liam’s help, they make the cute Valentine chocolates he’d been attempting to create. As much as Theo would have loved to surprise Liam with the candies, he’s pretty sure making them with him is even better.

Jenna is surprised and excited to see what her boys had been up to while she was at work and insists that they all have Valentine sundaes with Theo’s Accidental Hot Fudge Sauce for dessert. She sends Theo out for the strawberry ice cream.

And if he also picks up a Milky Way and stops by the dollar store for a card on the way home, well, Liam will be delighted.


End file.
